Bangladesh News

Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon yesterday said the state of emergency and the ’suppression’ of political activities should be lifted without ‘unnecessary delay’.

McKinnon also stressed the need for the government to provide a ‘best estimate’ timetable and a roadmap leading up to and inclusive of elections, if it is to sustain the popular support required to complete its task of ‘redesigning and rebuilding’ democratic institutions.

“I note the current state of emergency and the suppression of political activities. These should be lifted without unnecessary delay, and certainly should not be tied to the completion of the voter registration process,” said McKinnon at a news conference at Hotel Sonargaon in the capital.

McKinnon also said in absence of national or local government assemblies there is no forum for the people to voice their opinions. “No people should be deprived of such a forum any longer than absolutely necessary. This is a fundamental right,” said McKinnon.

Terming the current situation as ‘critical’ and ’somewhat unusual’, he said, “Once a new voters’ registry is ready, elections should be held expeditiously,” adding, “There should be no significant gap between that [preparation of the voter list] and the elections.”

He warned that the caretaker government will lose popular support if the members of the government want power for themselves.

McKinnon also stressed, “In the meantime, human rights, the rule of law, and due process must be respected. This is particularly important in the context of the large number of persons recently detained.”

“It has become clear to me that the caretaker government has popular support,” he said adding that he stressed in his discussions with the government, ’sustaining that consent, support and confidence will be a challenge’.

To ensure the support, the government needs to ensure that ‘the people are kept informed in a transparent way at every stage of what the government is doing and planning to do, with best estimate target dates’, said McKinnon.

He went on saying that the government needs to provide a ‘roadmap of programmes and major policy objectives leading up to inclusive and credible elections which should be made available as soon as possible with time-lines attached’.

He had earlier met Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed, Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftikher Ahmed Chowdhury, Chief Election Commissioner ATM Shamsul Huda, political leaders, and members of the civil society.

McKinnon said the caretaker government told him that it is ‘taking this once-in-a-generation opportunity to redesign and rebuild democratic institutions’, which he said ‘can only be done with the continuing consent and support of the people’.

“For far too long, this country has been dogged by narrow, partisan, winner-take-all politics. For any country to go forward, the welfare of the whole nation must come before party or self,” he observed.

“This is not just about getting elections right. It is about all the institutions of good governance, about parliament, about independence of the judiciary, about human rights, about integrity and accountability,” McKinnon said.

“I have got the loud and clear message that the people of Bangladesh want a fresh start to their democracy. They also want to get it right,” he added.

He said the national assembly could also do better through changes in its own rules and standing orders, adding, “The World Bank and IMF proposal of corporatising your state banks would be a significant step.”

The Commonwealth secretary general also said it is ironic that the poor-focused Grameen Bank has such a high loan repayment rate in comparison to public sector banks’ declaration of ‘appalling losses’.

Commending the government for taking a number of ‘laudable’ steps, he appreciated the foreign affairs adviser’s assurance that he will urge the government to adopt the Commonwealth’s Latimer House Principles, which clearly set out the independent and inter-dependent roles of the legislature, executive, and the judiciary.